During an appreciation dinner at Resurrection Church on Opal Street, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) and members of the Resurrection Neighborhood Watch program honored local law enforcement officials who are part of the Hollenbeck Division of the Los Angeles City/County Community Law Enforcement and Recovery (CLEAR) Program who work to combat gang violence in the community. The CLEAR Unit in Boyle Heights consists of representatives from various crime-fighting agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, and the Los Angeles County Probation Department. Since the CLEAR program's inception in 1996, the program has expanded annually to include six targeted areas in Los Angeles. During the ceremony, the congresswoman also praised Monsignor John Moretta for bringing the program to her attention. As a member of the Appropriations Committee in Congress, the congresswoman successfully secured $3.8 million in federal funds for the Los Angeles-wide program, including $1.25 million for the Hollenbeck Division. The CLEAR Unit implements gang enforcement strategies that include intelligence-gathering, visible community patrols, gang-related arrests, and the investigation of gang-related crimes. The officers also work closely with school officials to reduce gang activity and local gang-intervention organizations to divert "at-risk" youth from gang involvement.

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The following are excerpts from the Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard's remarks made at the August 3 Resurrection Neighborhood Watch Appreciation Dinner in Boyle Heights:  ". In honoring our CLEAR team, I'd like to begin by acknowledging the important role Monsignor John Moretta played in bringing the CLEAR program to our community.  Monsignor Moretta is the one that brought the CLEAR program to my attention.  He said he was very concerned about our community because he was increasingly attending funeral services for those killed in gang- related violence, including the funerals of innocent bystanders caught in the line of fire.  The high number of funeral services, he said, made this area seem like a war zone with no end in sight.  He had learned about the CLEAR program and knew it was making a difference in other communities and wanted to have the program brought to the Eastside.  It was this conversation with Monsignor Moretta that motivated me to secure the one million dollars in federal money to establish the CLEAR program in the Hollenbeck Division.  And, also the additional $2.8 million that I've been able to secure over the past four years to maintain the program here in the Hollenbeck Division and in other parts of Los Angeles.  We all know however, that money alone does not solve problems of violence in our communities.  It takes commitment and dedicated efforts on the part of the recipients of that money to successfully address problems in our community.  And that is why we are here this evening - to pay tribute to our CLEAR team and give a grateful send off to the officers who are being reassigned.  In recognition of the outstanding contributions to our community, I would like to present congressional certificates of recognition to the following members of the Hollenbeck Division CLEAR team: Detective III, De Waine Fields; Police Officer Tracy Marrufo; Police Officer Frank Macias; Police Officer Omar Cedre; Deputy City Attorney Max Shiner; Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Solorzano; Probation Officer Stephonie Steinruck; Probation Supervisor Mary Ridgeway; and Monsignor John Moretta."
 

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